Oregon Horse Tripping Exposed

With permission by Laura Allen

Oregon Horse Tripping Exposed 

 Horse tripping event organizers try to block Animal Law Coalition's photos of animal cruelty

Animal Law Coalition has released a video revealing horse tripping events still occur in Oregon, one of the few western states where the cruel practice remains legal. In the last legislative session a bill to ban horse tripping or horse roping in Oregon did not pass, in part, because legislators were told it no longer occurred in the state.

Horse tripping involves riders on horseback chasing a horse and causing the animal to flee. When the horse has reached full speed, a rider lassoes one of the horse's legs, then stops and pulls back on the rope, causing the horse to trip forward and smash full-force onto the ground. In other so-called horse roping practices, a horse is lassoed about the neck and the rope is then pulled down and taut, driving the animal's head into the ground.

Rope thrown around horse's neck and his head slammed into the dirt

  

Russ Mead, Animal Law Coalition's General Counsel, saw the horse tripping and horse roping first hand at the Harney County Rodeo in Burns, Oregon on July 7, 2012. The organizers don't even try to hide it. The grisly event was held at the county fairgrounds. Mead said, "You can hear the horses gasping, struggling, all the way outside of the arena. This is not a sport. This is animal cruelty, plain and simple."  

Horse roped around leg, to be tripped and slammed to the ground

 

Organizers of the rodeo tried to block Mead from photographing the horse tripping and roping. They tried to "block my view, and at one point, I was surrounded by ten people on horse back and taunted and threatened. One person tried to grab my camera." Even so, Mead was able to obtain photographs showing this cruel practice continues in Oregon.

The horse tripping exposed in Burns follows the release in May of video by SHARK that proved the cruel practice occurred also at the Jordan Valley Big Loop Rodeo in Southeastern Oregon.

Mead summarized, "One person at the rodeo told me tripping horses is a 'tradition', a 'part of the culture'. 'Tradition' and 'culture' are always used to justify practices we now know are wrong. Times change, and it's time for horse tripping and horse roping to go the way of animal fighting. It's time Oregon joined most other western states and banned this animal cruelty."

Oregon lawmakers are expected to take up the issue again in the next session. Contact Animal Law Coalition to learn how you can help ban horse tripping and roping.

Federal appeals judge halts NV wild-horse roundup

Federal appeals judge halts NV wild-horse roundup
MARTIN GRIFFITH, Associated Press
Updated 11:57 p.m., Friday, July 15, 2011

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals judge on Friday night granted a temporary injunction to halt a government roundup of about 1,700 wild horses from the range in Nevada.

Judge Richard Paez of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order after U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben earlier in the day denied a motion to stop the federal Bureau of Land Management's removal of mustangs from public lands near the Utah line.

Paez's order will remain in effect until a three-judge panel (continued)
http://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Federal-appeals-judge-halts-NV-wild-horse-roundup-1468449.php

Return of commercial horse slaughter to the U.S.?

Calls Needed TUESDAY to STOP U.S. Government from FUNDING Horse Slaughter Business!
Return of commercial horse slaughter to the U.S.?

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug, Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Committee has released its proposed appropriations budget for FY 2012.

The proposed bill does not include a provision de-funding inspections for horses to be slaughtered for human consumption. The proposed bill does not prohibit use of funds to inspect horses to be slaughtered for human consumption. The subcommittee report does not mention it.

It is the de-funding of these ante-mortem inspections in appropriations measures that has prohibited commercial horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S. since 2007. Now, if the subcommittee bill passes, it could mean the return of commercial horse slaughter to the U.S.

Go here for more on the de-funding and the court decision that upheld it.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
The proposed budget bill will be voted on by the full House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 5 p.m. EST in Room 2359, Rayburn House Office Building.

This meeting will be webcast. Audio and video of the hearing will be available by clicking here. Audio only will be available by clicking here.

Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-2131 or the Committee's number at (202) 225-2638, (202) 225-2771 for Republicans and (202) 225-3481 for Democrat members. Here are the names of committee members to ask for when you call. Go here to find the direct phone numbers of committee members and for your own U.S. representative.

Tell committee members and your own U.S. representative: Vote no on the appropriations bill unless the committee retains the language defunding inspections of horses to be slaughtered for human consumption.

Please forward this message to your friends and ask them to do the same.

Sincerely, Katia Louise
President
Wild for Life Foundation
Director, Saving America’s Horses

Laura Allen
Animal Law Attorney
BOD: Wild for Life Foundation
Advisory Board Member: Saving America’s Horses
Founder, Director: Animal Law Coalition

Link to PDF of this notice: http://www.savingamericashorses.org/Urgent%20message%20STOP%20U.S.%20Government%20from%20FUNDING%20Horse%20Slaughter.pdf

www.savingamericashorses.org

www.wildforlifefoundation.org/home.html

Pro Horse Slaughter "Summit" Not Happy with Dr. Grandin

Jan 6, 2011

By Laura Allen

Temple Grandin, Ph.D. delivered another disappointment to organizers of the misnamed "Summit of the Horse" in Las Vegas yesterday. Dr. Grandin was touted as a "featured speaker" who was said to be designing a horse slaughter facility in Wyoming that would be owned and operated by Wy state Rep. Sue Wallis.          

Prior to the "summit", Dr. Grandin told Animal Law Coalition "I have told Sue Wallis that I want no involvement in her business dealings.  ...[W]e have done no design work." Dr. Grandin was also quoted by Horseback Magazine as saying Wallis had "misrepresent[ed]" her involvement.

At the "summit" Dr. Grandin told attendees that many people had contacted her and urged her not to attend. 

Dr. Grandin was a sobering reminder that this should be about what is best for the horses.

She described herself as "neutral" on the issue of whether to ban horse slaughter for human consumption. And, Dr. Grandin's reluctance to endorse a ban on horse slaughter for human consumption stems from two concerns: 1. She said several times that a "horse's worst nightmare" was to end up at a Mexican slaughterhouse, particularly a municipal abbatoir, where they are repeatedly jabbed with puntilla knives and slaughtered while conscious. 2. Dr. Grandin was skeptical that legislation to close the border and stop export of horses for slaughter for human consumption would be enforceable. She noted that it would be very easy to smuggle horses in closed vehicles or state other reasons for their export, particularly to Mexico.

But Dr. Grandin also told "summit" attendees that only about 20% of animal slaughter facilities operate within acceptable humane guidelines and the rest "slip into bad practices" with a full 10% intentionally treating animals cruelly.

Dr. Grandin said  that in auditing slaughter facilities, 95% of the animals, whether they are horses, pigs, cows, etc., must be stunned effectively on the first blow or shot or the facility should be considered to have failed. She also strongly advocated video monitoring, non-slip flooring and high solid sides to prevent the animals from seeing anything. She agreed there are behavioral signs that can indicate when an animal is afraid and steps should be taken to alleviate the fear.

Dr. Grandin made the point that "you manage what you measure" and told attendees slaughter facilities should be audited using criteria such as whether animals are stunned on the first attempt, whether they vocalize which is a sign of fear, whether they slip or fall, how they are handled by employees, etc.

It was not what "summit" attendees wanted to hear. One man, claiming he was speaking on behalf of most people present, said Dr. Grandin's  standards to prevent cruelty would be "costly". 

But there was no compromise from Dr. Grandin. She pointed out humane euthanasia as an option. She also said people had sent her a number of ways to reduce numbers of excess horses or help horses in need. She then read them to the attendees: birth control including low cost gelding though only one facility currently offers that service, raising awareness  about overbreeding, find jobs for older horses, establish a "horsefinder" that like petfinder.com would help owners network to find homes for horses they cannot care for any longer, establish hay banks and allow hay to be harvested on land that the government pays farmers to leave unplanted, allow in place rescue, create horse parks, or impose surcharges on stall fees at tracks and horsebreeding to cover the cost of humane euthanasia.

In effect, the solutions relayed by Dr. Grandin are (1) stop the overbreeding, (2) find ways to care for horses in need.

And the best way to do that? Ban the slaughter of American horses for human consumption. The availability of slaughter creates a salvage or secondary market that encourages the overbreeding. As Dr. Grandin warned, however, any legislation to ban slaughter must be enforceable.

Was "summit" organizer, Wy state Rep. Sue Wallis listening to the high standards for humane treatment that Dr. Grandin would impose on her proposed slaughter facility should it ever be legally and otherwise operational? Unlikely, as Wallis appears to have been busy angrily shoving reporter and horse advocate Simone Netherlands out of the "summit" conference room. The police were called and Netherlands was treated for injuries at a local hospital. Dr. Grandin is lucky to have escaped unscathed given Wallis' treatment of people who don't agree with her.    

National Call-In Day to support of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act

Dear Friends,
Please join us by calling on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Tuesday, October 19th and Ask her to schedule a vote NOW on the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503), legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses for human consumption. Schedule the vote NOW.  Tell her she has the power to end immense suffering by scheduling the vote NOW during the remaining session of Congress THIS YEAR!  NOW is the time for her to step up and do this.  Tell Speaker Pelosi that this bill has 183 bipartisan cosponsors in the House, 28 in the Senate, and tremendous public support.

After you call Speaker Pelosi,(202) 225-0100 or her San Francisco office, (415) 556-4862, call on Senate Majority LeaderSen. Harry Reid702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030, and Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Dick Durbin(202) 224-2152 or fax (202) 228-0400to schedule a vote on the senate version, S.B. 727.  Don’t wait. Do it now. For the horses.

For more information please go to Animal Law Coalition here:

http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=-1&msgid=0&act=11111&c=295898&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.animallawcoalition.com%2Fhorse-slaughter%2Farticle%2F1443

H.R. 305 Set for Mark Up

Jul 28, 2010 

By Laura Allen 

Representatives Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL) and Steve Cohen (D-TN)  wasted no time in introducing at the start of the 111th Congress a bill, H.R. 305, Horse Transportation Safety Act, which would ban the use of double decked trailers for all horse transport.

The bill, H.R. 305, which could end cruel horse transports, has, however, been in committee ever since. Until now. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is expected to mark up or consider the bill this week.
What You Can Do
Find committee members here and fax or call members and urge them to vote YES on H.R. 305.
Find out if your U.S. Representative is on the committee, and, if so, be sure to tell him or her that you are a constitutent! Regardless, urge your representative to support H.R. 305, the Horse Transportation Safety Act, which bans use of double decked trailers to haul horses and promotes highway safety for everyone. 
You can reach committee members, your Representative and the House leadership through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Call the committee:(202) 225-4472 or (202) 225-9446. Fax the committee: (202) 226-1270

More about the proposed law
There is a USDA regulation banning the use of double decked trailers to transport horses to slaughter. 9 CFR 88.3  But the USDA has also said it does not have the resources to enforce the regulation, giving the industry a virtual green light to continue using double decked trailers to haul horses to slaughter.  Also, the law allows horses to be hauled in double decked trailers to destinations other than slaughter houses. So, horses are routinely hauled long distances in double decked trailers to some destination close to the slaughter house. Once there, they are then transferred to another vehicle which takes them to the slaughter house.
Double decked trailers can have ceiling heights as low as 5'7". (The industry standard for vehicles to transport horses is 7'-8').  According to the USDA, an equine can be 8 feet tall when standing on all four legs and close to 12 feet tall when rearing. 
The bottom deck of a double decked trailer has 3" I Beams every 12" on center to support the top deck.
Steep and narrow ramps with metal floors cause the horses to slip and fall, causing injuries. Horses are forced to jump down into a narrow opening leading to the bottom deck; they are often injured as a result.
Because of the low ceiling heights horses cannot raise and lower their heads and necks for balance. Horses routinely throw their heads and rear, unlike cattle, hogs, goats or sheep for which these double decked trailers are designed.  Horses suffer head and back injuries because of the low ceiling height, the 3" I beams, and overhead ramp storage.
They are held on these trailers in this way for more than 24 hours at a time without food or water. Many suffer serious injuries during these arduous journeys to slaughter and are trampled and even killed.
Sometimes the upper deck collapses. There have been a number of accidents involving over full double decked trailers, most recently a horrific one in Illinois. The double decked trailer crammed with frightened Belgian horses overturned, killing 17 horses and injuring many more.

Judge Grants Media Access to Tuscarora Wild Horse Roundup

By Laura Allen

Animal Law Coalition

July 16, 2010

Nevada U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks has lifted the injunction prohibiting BLM from proceeding with the Tuscarora roundup. The judge has also denied plaintiff Laura Leigh's motion to delay the roundup until August, after the foaling season.
But the judge then ruled, "As to Leigh's First Amendment challenge to the closure of public lands during the gather, the court shall grant Leigh's temporary restraining order. Leigh argues that a blanket closure of 27,000 acres of public land on which the Tuscarora Gather is going to take place is a prior restraint on her First Amendment rights because she will be unable to observe and report on the health of the horses and the BLM's management of the gather. The court agrees [and]... finds that the blanket closure ... is unconstitutional". The BLM can, however, draft a "more reasonable closure".
"The court's order in no way [a]ffects the BLM's closure of the airspace above the 27,000 acres of public land. The court finds the closure of airspace to be constitutional and necessary". (A copy of the Order is attached below for downloading.)
In deciding to allow the roundup to proceed now instead of later, Judge Hicks was persuaded by BLM's last minute "review" filed yesterday by a BLM team that claims the horses dying or suffering from dehydration or water intoxication were in that condition prior to the roundup. The "review" states that a BLM contractor found Tuscarora wild horses without water and said "the next 24-78 hours is critical". BLM recommended rounding up as many horses as possible and warned of a "potentially high mortality" rate.  Horses showing signs of dehydration on the range would be left to die.
Leigh pointed out, however, that there was no mention by BLM of a drought or dehydrated horses in the Tuscarora HMAs until after her lawsuit was filed. She disputed the "hastily assembled" "review" by BLM:

The Defendants' admit they do not grasp the issue causing the high mortality rate of the horses they run into catch pens. We discover they had not calculated a drought by mid-July or that horses would run out of available water by mid-July although they had studied the probable effects of their intended Gather the several months preceding the Gather, beginning in January 2010. No other BLM document discusses or addresses "drought" for range management in the year 2010 in the Owynee, Rock Creek or Little Humboldt areas. It was in fact, only after suit was filed did these emergency conditions become newly revealed.

Leigh offered to visit the herds and attempt to verify BLM's claim a roundup must proceed immediately because of drought.
At least Leigh and other members of the media and public will be allowed to monitor BLM's roundup.
For more on this case and the Tuscarora roundup, read Animal Law Coalition's report below.
Update July 15, 2010: Nevada federal District Court Judge Larry Hicks has issued an injunction prohibiting BLM from proceeding with the Tuscarora roundup. 
The BLM had temporarily suspended its Tuscarora roundup of wild horses initiated in the intense summer heat just days ago on July 10, 2010.
BLM halted the roundup after public outcry over the deaths of horses now said to number 12 including 3 foals.
Based on BLM's representation the roundup would not begin again until Sunday, July 19, 2010, the judge set a hearing on July 14 on a motion for restraining order filed by plaintiff Laura Leigh to delay the roundup until August and compel BLM to allow access to the roundup by the media and the public.
The judge explained that he was then informed despite BLM's representation to the court, BLM Director Bob Abbey had issued an order for an "emergency" roundup of the horses prior to the hearing.  

Judge Hicks ordered, "Based on this change in the BLM's position, the court finds it necessary to grant an immediate injunction preventing the Tuscarora gathering of wild horses until further order by the court."

Go here for more on the planned Tuscarora roundup of 1,438 wild horses in the 482,191 acres of the Owyhee, Rock Creek, Little Humboldt Herd Management Areas. In proceeding with the roundup on July 10, BLM basically ignored thousands of citizens who submitted letters and emails in protest during a period of public comment on the planned roundup.
An appeal of BLM's decision to round up wild horses in the Tuscarora HMAs has been filed with the Interior Board of Land Appeals by In Defense of Animals and Craig Downer, a wildlife ecologist. BLM, however, can resume the roundup while the appeal is pending.
The dehydration, the deaths, the cruelty (cont'd)

Doubt Cast On Pilot Valley "Estray" Horses Rounded-Up By BLM

July 7, 2010

Doubt Cast On Pilot Valley "Estray" Horses Rounded-Up By BLM

CHICAGO, (EWA) - On June 23, 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Elko District office buried on its website a notice that  approximately 175 "abandoned, domestic, estray" horses located within Pilot Valley, NV, were scheduled for impoundment beginning June 25. The round up was expected to take 3 - 4 days with corrals set up on nearby private land owned by Simplot Land and Livestock until the horses could be transported and placed under the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada.

 

According to Nevada laws, an estray is a horse that is found running loose on public lands but shows signs of domestication and the owner is unknown. A horse is considered "feral" under Nevada law if the animal was domesticated or is the offspring of domesticated horses and has become wild with no physical signs of domestication. The state of Nevada owns estray and feral horses. Wild horses and free-roaming Mustangs are protected by the BLM under the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.   

 

Nevada authorities plan to sell the horses rounded up by the BLM at auction on July 10. The horses will be available to all buyers and are therefore at risk of ending up at slaughterhouses in Mexico or Canada.

 

But serious questions are being raised as to whether these horses are, in fact, estray or feral. After investigating the history and location of the Pilot Valley area, wild horse advocates found Pilot Valley sits at the edge of a known wild horse territory called the Toano Wild Horse Herd Area. BLM wanted to make this area "horse free" in 1993, but according to BLM's Program statistics, approximately 168 wild horses were reported as still residing in the Toano range as of last year.

 

The proximity and near identical number of horses has lead mustang advocates to speculate that the horses the BLM rounded up as estray might actually be wild horses from the Toano range that are entitled to roam free under federal protection. How, they ask, does BLM know these horses are estray or feral and not wild horses?

 

Suspicions are further fueled by the unusual suddenness of the roundup, just 48 hours after notice of the removal was posted.  "These horses will go from free roaming to sold in fifteen days or less with tight security at the facilities where they are now being held," said Valerie James Patton, Vice President of Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA). 

 

"Even BLM's own news release stated those horses had been there a long time, long enough to grow in size", Patton added.  "So now the question becomes, how long is a long time?  Since 1993 when BLM filed papers to zero out the Toano Herd Area?"

 

"Given the long history of abuse and impropriety that has characterized the Wild Horse & Burro Program, I have to ask," said EWA's Vicki Tobin, "Did BLM openly remove federally protected wild horses from the range to sell them for slaughter because they have no fear of being held accountable? It would be illegal for BLM to round up wild horses declaring them estray and turn them over to the State. The BLM is prohibited from sending wild horses to slaughter, whether directly or indirectly."

 

While questions have begun surfacing as to the true status of the Pilot Valley horses, Laura Allen of Animal Law Coalition and EWA points out, " Before selling estray horses, the state is supposed to use reasonable diligence to try to find the owner including placing a notice about the estray with a full description in the local paper. BLM's news release states these are domestic estray horses abandoned by local residents. So why isn't an effort being made to find the local owners and hold them responsible to care for these horses instead of rushing these horses off for instant sale?"

 

"Another concern is, there are very specific definitions as to how to determine estray and feral livestock from federally protected wild horses and so far, the only thing we've seen is a take-our-word-for-it position from officials", she said.

"The Department of Interior has an almost unblemished reputation as a consistent source of scandal, mismanagement and corruption," explained EWA president John Holland, "starting with Teapot Dome in the Harding Administration through to the current disaster in the Gulf. So when things look this suspicious, questions are bound to arise."

In fairness to the BLM, EWA contacted them on July 1, to ask how they determined the horses were estray and is still awaiting a response.

EWA calls for a federal investigation to find out how BLM determined these horses are not the federally protected wild horses from the Toano range, which should include genetic testing and an accounting of the Toano wild horses.

Contacts:

Valerie James-Patton                         

Equine Welfare Alliance

530-474-1128

valerie_jamespatton@yahoo.com

Laura Allen

Animal Law Coalition and Equine Welfare Alliance, general counsel

607.220.8938

lauraallen@animallawcoalition.com

 

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 100 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org 

Animal Law Coalition is a coalition of pet owners and rescuers, advocates, attorneys, law students, veterinarians, shelter workers, decisionmakers, and other citizens, that advocates for the rights of animals to live and live free of cruelty and neglect. www.animallawcoalition.com

MO Pro Slaughter Bill Still Alive!!

By Laura Allen
Animal Law Coalition
 
Update May 7, 2010:  The pro-horse slaughter provisions from Missouri H.B. 1747, that were sneakily buried in S.B. 795, an unrelated bill, were NOT withdrawn or removed by amendment from S.B. 795 on May 5 as previously reported.

At least 1 anti-slaughter lobbyist at the Capitol that day was given to understand the pro-slaughter provisions had been removed prior to the House vote on the bill. That was not true.  Also, last week state Sen. Dan Clemens said there would be no further legislative progress on H.B. 1747, the pro-horse slaughter bill, leading citizens to believe the bill was dead for this session. In the meantime, the pro-horse slaughter provisions were simply quietly buried in S.B. 795.

The Missouri House of Representatives debated the House Committee Substitute version of S.B. 795 this past week amidst a strong public outcry against the horse slaughter provisions buried in the bill. The pro-slaughter provisions were originally in H.B. 1747 introduced by state  Rep. James Viebrock. For more on this and how these provisions came to be buried in S.B. 795, read Animal Law Coalition's reports below.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
S.B. 795 is currently in a conference committee because the Senate has refused to concur in the House Committee Substitute which passed the House with amendments, including the pro-horse slaughter provisions. If you live in Missouri, find your state senator here and urge them to reject the pro-horse slaughter provisions from H.B. 1747 that are buried in S.B. 795.   Find Missouri Senate leaders here (just click on their names) and a list of all Missouri state senators here.
Contact Missouri's Governor Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon. Here is more contact info for the governor:

Office of Governor Jay Nixon
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222

Tell them horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane and has no place in American culture!

http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1160

MO buried the provisions of H.B. 1747 in another, unrelated bill, S.B. 795

Rep. Viebrock has buried the provisions of H.B. 1747 in another, unrelated bill, S.B. 795 which was approved this week by a committee and is now scheduled for a vote in the House, maybe as early as Monday, May 3, 2010. Will the pro-slaughter proponents get away with this? Write and call MO state representatives now and stop this bill, the House Committee Substitute, S.B. 795.

http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1160

MO Pro Horse Slaughter Bill is Dead for this Session!

Posted Jan 24, 2010 

by Laura Allen 

Animal Law Coalition

Update April 30: Following on the heels of Tennessee state Rep. Frank Niceley's announcement that he will withdraw his pro-horse slaughter bill, the chair of the Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee, Sen. Dan Clemens, has stated "there will be no further legislative progress on H.B. 1747". H.B. 1747 is now dead for this session.
The bill was another effort by pro-horse slaughter proponents to try to defeat pending federal legislation to prohibit the slaughter of American horses, convince the American public that horse slaughter is necessary, even humane and create markets in this country for horsemeat. The bill also would have restricted all animal welfare laws.

Bill to promote horse slaughter has been assigned to the Missouri Senate Agriculture

ALC Update: H.B. 1747, a bill to promote horse slaughter has been assigned to the Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee.

Though it has not been announced, the committee is expected to take up the bill on Wed., April 14, 2010. Please find members here (just click on their names for contact info) and write (faxes are best) or call and urge committee members to vote no to H.B. 1747.  Don't wait. Do it now. This bill has already passed the state House of Representatives.
 
Polite phone calls to the Senators re this bill are encouraged..

Senator Jolie Justus 573-751-2788  is very sympathetic and a real animal lover. The Chair of the Ag comm. is Senator Dan Clemens 573-751-4008  Senate Floor Leader-Kevin Engler 573-751-3455  and the Senate Pro Tem, Charlie Shields 573-751-9576 

Learn more at Animal Law Coalition:
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1160

Pro-slaughter lobbyists pushing harder to reopen horse slaughter plants in the US

Pro-slaughter lobbyists are pushing bills and resolutions thru state legislatures that call for the defeat of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, the federal bill that would shut down slaughter of American horses. They are also pushing bills calculated to convince Americans that horse slaughter is humane or a solution for "abandoned" horses.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Get the facts and help stop this disinformation campaign.
www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1162

TN Horse Slaughter Bill attempts to pave the way for the construction of a horse slaughter house in the state.

By Laura Allen

  After stalling in 2009, Tennessee state Rep. Frank S. Niceley's pro-horse slaughter bill, H.B. 1428 as amended, (S.B. 1898 in the Tennessee Senate) is on the calendar for the House Finance, Ways and Means Budget Subcommittee to be heard on April 7, 2010.
The bill as originally proposed had nothing to do with horse slaughter. Under an amendment H.B. 1428 would attempt to pave the way for the construction of a horse slaughter house in the state. 
In 2009 the House Agriculture Committee adopted the amendment to H.B. 1428.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Write and then call each committee member and urge them to vote NO on H.B. 1428.
Go here to find Tennessee legislators including your own if you live in the state and also write (faxes or letters are best) and then call and urge them to vote to H.B. 1428/S.B. 1898.
Email Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen phil.bredesen@state.tn.us and tell him you oppose horse slaughter and H.B. 1428/S.B. 1898. Send him a link to this article.

Don't let this bill pass. Even if commercial horse slaughter was legal in the U.S., which it is not, horse slaughter houses don't bring revenue or jobs to states or communities. Instead, they bring horrific odors of dying and dead horses, blood literally running down the streets and clogging drains, illegally dumped or discharged waste, burdens on wastewater treatment and sewage systems, financial loss, and terrible animal cruelty.

LINK TO THIS ARTICLE

KY Bill to Create Pro Slaughter Board Passes Senate

KY Bill to Create Pro Slaughter Board Passes Senate

By Laura Allen 

Animal Law Coalition

Update Mar. 31: Other than changing the name from "an Act Relating to equines" to "an Act relating to agriculture", the Kentucky state Senate has passed H.B. 398 by a unanimous vote.

H.B. 398 has already passed the Kentucky House. This fast tracked bill would create a board openly named for the pro-horse slaughter organization, "Equine Health and Welfare Alliance".

The bill goes back to the House for approval of the minor title amendment.
What the Equine Health and Welfare Board will do
This Board would "[a]ssist, advise and consult" the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet "on equine health and welfare issues" and "[a]ct to maintain the health, welfare, and safety of equines". The Board would have the authority to hold public hearings, collect data and issue regulations. The board would be authorized to "develop regional centers of care for unwanted, abused, neglected, or confiscated equines", create minimum standards for rescue and retirement operations that would include a "voluntary certification" process; and advise on laws "affecting equine health, welfare, abuse, and neglect issues"; identify "critical areas of need" for veterinarians and "others". The Board would report annually to the Governor and the Cabinet and Legislative Research Commission on its work.

One of the first duties of the Board will be to assess the scope of the so-called problem of "abandoned" or "unwanted" horses. The Alliance acknowledges the information disseminated is largely hearsay. Indeed, much of it is false, planted by pro-slaughter interests in an effort to see horse slaughter return to the United States. Horse slaughter, of course, is not driven by numbers of so-called abandoned or unwanted horses, but instead a demand for horsemeat largely as a delicacy in some foreign countries. The USDA reports more than 92% of horses purchased and sent to slaughter are healthy. Nonetheless, horse slaughter proponents pretend slaughter is a service to dispose of "abandoned" or "unwanted" horses to get the public to support their seedy, cruel practice.    

The bill is sponsored by Kentucky state Rep. Tom McKee of Cynthiana.
Makeup of the Board
It is unlikely that this Board will actually promote anti-cruelty laws and other measures to promote horse welfare. The Board is simply a front for pro-horse slaughter interests that will surely recommend slaughter as an equine "welfare" measure and at the same time control the rescues operated by horse protection advocates who oppose slaughter.  All under the authority of the Kentucky state government.

Under the bill, H.B. 398, the Board will have 13 voting members including the  secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet; the state veterinarian, a  representative of the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center; one representative of the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program;  executive director of the University of Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center, or the executive director of the Murray State University Breathitt Veterinary Center;  chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture;  chairman of the House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Small Business; one  representative of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation with an interest in equine issues; one  veterinarian representing the Kentucky Equine Health and Welfare Alliance Inc.;  one member representing the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association; and one member to be appointed by the Governor from a list of three (3) nominees submitted by Kentucky Horse Council; and two members at large appointed by the governor and who live in diverse regions of the state and who represent equine breeders and owners and agricultural interests.

An amendment to the original bill added more representatives of equine education programs in several other Kentucky colleges or universities and one, yes, one member of the equine rescue community.
The Board would not be able to interfere with the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority or the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners.

The Kentucky legislature is also fast tracking a bill to create a Livestock Care Standards Board that would have the authority to determine standards for care and treatment of livestock including equines.
 
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Oppose this bill, H.B. 398. This is nothing but a power grab by pro-slaughter interests. If this bill passes, they will have a state sanctioned Board to push for the return of horse slaughter to the U.S., oppose the federal legislation to stop all slaughter of American horses, and control the rescues of advocates working to save horses from slaughter. Kentuckians don't need an industry weighted Board to improve the laws protecting horses or come up with ways to improve their care. They can decide these issues themselves through their local and state governments.

Contact Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and urge him to veto this pro-slaughter bill, H.B. 398.
Go here to read how you can help pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, now pending in Congress.

LINK TO THIS ARTICLE 

Another "Front" for Horse Slaughter

Pro-slaughter interests have once again used a state legislature to advance their agenda to return horse slaughter to the U.S.  

Mar 16, 2010 

With permission by 

Laura Allen, Animal Law Coalition

They have pushed through the Wyoming legislature a new law, H.B. 122, introduced by Wy. State Rep. Sue Wallis who is also the self-styled Executive Director of the United Organizations of the Horse, which is said to unite The United Horsemen's Front, The United Horsemen's Alliance, and The United Horsemen's Political & Legal Action Fund.  "Front" is probably the most appropo name for this collection of horse slaughter supporters. Front for pro-horse slaughter interests.
It's not clear that when Wyoming residents elected Wallis as a state representative, they understood she would act as a shill for pro-slaughter interests.

The new law allows the Wyoming Board of Livestock to "send for slaughter" any abandoned, estray, feral, or abused animals under their control. The Board can already sell these animals at auction so including the phrase "send for slaughter" in the law doesn't add to the Board's current authority.  It just sends the message that horse slaughter is acceptable, even desirable.  

The new law also states that the Board "may enter into agreements with licensed meat processing plants to process meat from livestock disposed of by slaughter.  The processed meat shall be sold to:
(Cont'd) 


Laura Allen is founder and executive director of Animal Law Coalition, a 501c(4) non-profit that provides animal legal news and resources to attorneys, government officials, teachers, students, animal welfare advocates and the public to encourage them to join the fight against animal cruelty. Animal Law Coalition also drafts and lobbies for legislation and gets involved in litigation to promote animal welfare. Laura has been a trial and appellate attorney for more than 20 years, practicing in several state and federal courts. She is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, several professional associations, and advisor to animal welfare organizations. Ms. Allen has lobbied for the passage of legislation to ban horse slaughter in the United States and has drafted state resolutions to support that effort. Laura Allen is a Co-Founder of the Wild Capture Awareness Campaign, a board member of Wild for Life Foundation, an Executive Advisory Board Member for the WFLF Humanion Films feature documentary film project, "Saving America's Horses, A Nation Betrayed".

CO Bill to Give Tax Dollars to Promote Horse Slaughter

By Laura Allen, Animal Law Coalition

CO Bill to Give Tax Dollars to Promote Horse Slaughter Act Now!!
Under S.B. 139, legislators are considering a bill that would require the state tax return to contain a provision that would allow citizens to indicate they want taxpayer money to go to the Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance to "assist in its efforts" to "find solutions" for "unwanted horses". The solution being the re-opening of U.S. slaughter houses.  A fund would be set up in the state treasury called the "Unwanted Horse Fund" where this money to be distributed to this private corporation would be collected.


Studies attached below have shown that stories about "abandoned and unwanted" horses are largely untrue, planted in the media by horse slaughter proponents that want people to believe this is because of the closure of U.S. slaughter houses. They have repeated the myth of the "abandoned and unwanted" horses over and over until people believe it.  In fact, slaughter is driven by a demand for horse meat generally as a delicacy in some other countries, not numbers of "abandoned and unwanted" horses in the U.S.  More than 92% of horses purchased and sent for slaughter are healthy, not abandoned, unwanted, starving or otherwise neglected. So it is not a service for "abandoned and unwanted horses"; it is a brutal enterprise that profits from animal cruelty.

Also, the salvage or secondary market for horses is created by over-breeding; slaughter enables over-breeding that results in what are more accurately described as "excess" horses, not "abandoned and starving" horses. Without slaughter, there would be less incentive for overbreeding and fewer "excess" horses.
The answer to any animals in need of care is not to line the pockets of a lucrative industry that would torture them and sell their meat as a delicacy for considerable profit.  However the Unwanted Horse Alliance may disguise itself, as a charitable, a public service, whatever, know that it is a front for pro-slaughter interests.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
This bill has already passed the Senate Agriculture Committee by a vote of 5-1. The bill is now in the Appropriations Committee. We must stop this nonsense and fraud on the taxpayers. This bill is set for hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee this Friday, March 5, 2010 at 7:30 a.m. in Senate Committee Room 356. Find committee members here (just click on their names for contact info) and write (faxes are best) or call and urge them to vote NO on S.B. 139!

 Go here or here to find a list of Colorado senators with contact information. Write (faxes or letters are best) or call and urge them to vote NO to S.B. 139! Don't wait. Do it now.
For more on other bills spreading the disinformation of the pro-slaughter lobbyists and how you can help defeat them.....

By Laura Allen, Animal Law Coalition,
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1242

Another Kentucky Board, Pushing Slaughter Under the Guise of Equine Welfare?

Feb 18, 2010 

Posted with Permission

By Laura Allen

H.B. 398, is championed by the newly formed "Equine Health and Welfare Alliance" (a pro slaughter group) - this bill would create a separate Kentucky Equine Health and Welfare Board. The Board would have the authority to hold public hearings, collect data and issue regulations. ...The Board would report annually to the Governor and the Cabinet and Legislative Research Commission on its work.

The Board would have the authority to hold public hearings, collect data and issue regulations.  The Board would report annually to the Governor and the Cabinet and Legislative Research Commission on its work.

One of the first duties of the Board will be to assess the scope of the so-called problem of "abandoned" or "unwanted" horses. The Alliance acknowledges the information disseminated is largely hearsay. Indeed, much of it is false, planted by pro-slaughter interests in an effort to see horse slaughter return to the United States. Horse slaughter, of course, is not driven by numbers of so-called abandoned or unwanted horses, but instead a demand for horsemeat largely as a delicacy in some foreign countries. The USDA reports more than 92% of horses purchased and sent to slaughter are healthy. Nonetheless, horse slaughter proponents pretend slaughter is a service to dispose of "abandoned" or "unwanted" horses to get the public to support their seedy, cruel practice.   

The bill is sponsored by Kentucky state Rep. Tom McKee of Cynthiana and has been approved by the state House Agriculture and Small Business Committee. The full House is expected to vote on the measure soon.

The Board is simply a front for pro-horse slaughter interests that will surely recommend slaughter as an equine "welfare" measure and at the same time control the rescues operated by horse protection advocates who oppose slaughter.  All under the authority of the Kentucky state government.
The Board would not be able to interfere with the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority or the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Oppose this bill, H.B. 398. This is nothing but a power grab by pro-slaughter interests. If this bill passes, they will have a state sanctioned Board to push for the return of horse slaughter to the U.S., oppose the federal legislation to stop all slaughter of American horses, and control the rescues of advocates working to save horses from slaughter. Kentuckians don't need an industry weighted Board to improve the laws protecting horses or come up with ways to improve their care. They can decide these issues themselves through their local and state governments.


Contact Kentucky state representatives found here and state senators found here (be polite) and urge them to vote NO on H.B. 398. Faxes or calls are best. If you get a voice mail, leave a message. If you live in Kentucky, go here to find your legislators.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Go here to read how you can help pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, now pending in Congress.

An Open Letter to President Obama

By Laura Allen, Animal Law Coalition

Published with Permission  

• Horse Slaughter

I did vote for you. I was intrigued by your call for "change". You signaled a dramatic new course, one of openness and inclusion.  Certainly I applauded your choice of Joe Biden as vice president, a staunch animal welfare advocate.

The promises
During the 2008 campaign you said, "Federal policy towards animals should respect the dignity of animals and their rightful place as cohabitants of our environment. We should strive to protect animals and their habitats and prevent animal cruelty, exploitation and neglect.... I have consistently been a champion of animal-friendly legislation and policy and would continue to be so once elected." You announced that you had co-sponsored legislation to stop the sale for slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros. During the election you signed on as co-sponsor to the bill to ban horse slaughter for human consumption.  When asked specifically during the campaign, "Will you support legislation ...to institute a permanent ban on horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption", you gave an unqualified "Yes". (HSLF questionnaire)
Today, in January, 2010, you are presiding over one of the deadliest, most cruel and unnecessary government roundups of wild horses ever documented by BLM. 

As of this writing, more than 2 dozen horses have been killed by helicopters used by your administration to run them off their legally protected herd areas and corral them in long term holding pens. The hooves of two little foals have literally torn off as they ran for their lives from the BLM. BLM's Richard Sanford DVM reported on one, "Multiple hoof sloughs were noted and the foal was euthanized for humane reasons. The cause of these hoof abscesses/sloughs was most likely hoof trauma from the gather operations."

Several mares have also aborted spontaneously or miscarried. This after being forced to run miles from a helicopter and trapped in a corral, terrified, traumatized and forever separated from their herds, their families. A long time BLM official whom you promoted to the job of Assistant Director for Renewable Resources and Planning in the BLM, Edwin Roberson, claims the spontaneous abortions are "the result of the poor condition of many of the older mares and ... directly related to lack of forage on the range." Except that they weren't miscarrying on the range and didn't do so until after they were forced to run hundreds of miles, extremely afraid, and lost their families and freedom forever. Your administration would have us believe that the mares all miscarried in the past few days because of years of eating the forage on the range and it had nothing to do with the severe trauma of the roundup they had just endured?

The nearly 2,000 horses that have now been removed from their herd areas are contained in an open, dirt arena, basically a feedlot, with no windbreaks or other protection from the weather. Visit Saving America's Horses - A Nation Betrayed, for more information on this deadly roundup.

(Cont'd) 

Youtube Question to the President: 
“What’s it Going to take Mr. President, to Save America’s Horses?”
AAHS & WFLF Joint Statement: Rise Up America!

Stop IL state Rep. Sacia’s Effort to Repeal the IL Ban on Horse Slaughte

(Courtesy Animal Law Coalition)

Stop IL state Rep. Sacia’s effort to repeal the IL ban on horse slaughter for human consumption! Despite failing in 2008 and 2009 to pass a repeal of the IL ban on horse slaughter for human consumption, Rep. Sacia is trying again. Go here for more information and how you can help stop this latest bill. http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1138